Akatsuki Revenge
by lovelyhellion777
Summary: This story is now on hiatus because my computer crashed and took away all of my stories, because this happened, I have decided to revise the story. I hope this time the computers will accept my stories without crashing on me anymore. Thank you readers!
1. Chapter 1

**Akatsuki Revenge**

Prologue

Walking into the house, the little boy with blonde, spiky hair took off his shoe and called out to his mother, "MUMMY! I'm home!"

Not hearing any response, the little seven year old boy assumed that his mother had gone to the market and had not come back yet. Wondering if his mother had left some ramen for him before she left, the little boy walked into the kitchen and froze.

Staring up at him, with lifeless blue eyes was his mother. Her head was partially severed from her body, one of her arms was completely detached and another was gone. Blood was everywhere. There was blood on the walls and on the floor. Crying in horror, the little boy ran to his mother and started to sob as if there was no tomorrow. Finally lifting his head, he saw a large red spot that was made into the kitchen wall with his mother's blood. What caught his eyes was the irregular shape of this spot. It was in the shape of a red cloud, slowly he processed this through his shocked brain. Then all of a sudden he turned back to his mother and whispered to her, "You will have your revenge, Mummy. All the Akatsuki will pay for what they have done to you."

**Chapter 1**

Fifteen years later…

"Hey kid, what are you doing up there," a voice from below the tree bellowed.

Knowing that his hiding place had been founded, the tall, blonde man jumped out of the tree and landed flawlessly on his feet.

"Sensei, don't call me a kid, OK?" The blonde man replied, as he looked straight at his sensei. Frustrated, the blonde man turned around and stalked off.

_What is up with Naruto?_ Jiraiya wondered, as he continued to follow Naruto. _Why is he acting so weird?_ Quickly catching up with Naruto's long strides, Jiraiya asked, "Hey, what is bothering you?"

Not even looking at his Sensei, Naruto answered in a cold detached voice, "Nothing is bothering me."

Not believing this at all, Jiraiya just kept quiet as he and Naruto walked on the dirt road. Stopping mid-stride, Naruto turned to Jiraiya and asked hollowly, "When will we reach Konoha?"

"Well," Jiraiya began, calculating the distance, "we can reach Konoha late tomorrow evening if we rest now and then. If we don't rest, we could get to Konoha by early tomorrow morning."

Thinking this over in his head, Naruto started off again. Before they could have gone 5 yards, Naruto turned his head slightly to his left and stated confidently to Jiraiya, "We will reach Konoha by nightfall."

And by night fall they had reached the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Konoha was a beautiful sight, even in the dead of night, with the moon shinning, and the sky clear of clouds. The night was so peaceful, you could hardly imagine that underneath this calm and peaceful setting, resided the world's strongest and most venerable shinobis.

Naruto stopped in front of the gates, staring up into the cloudless sky, thinking heatedly to himself, _"Mommy, I'm back. I am ready to avenge you. The Akatsuki clan will pay for killing you. Those SAVAGES!"_

When Jiraiya started going towards the opening of the gates, he looked back and saw that Naruto was still standing in the same spot, just staring furiously up into the night sky. Jiraiya quickly walked back to Naruto and quietly whispered to him, "Come, we are here."

When the quiet scratchy whisper finally caught Naruto's attention, he turned away from the sky and looked straight at Jiraiya, "Yes, we are here," then Naruto turned and walked past Jiraiya and through the village gates.

As Naruto and Jiraiya walked through the gates into the village, they were suddenly surrounded by a half a dozen of Konoha's best shinobis. Not realizing who Naruto and Jiraiya were the shinobis began to attack them.

Before the shinobis could attack them and cause themselves some harm, Jiraiya and Naruto quickly pulled out their headbands, giving proof that they were not enemies.

When the shinobi in the cat mask saw these headbands, the shinobi quickly signaled the rest of the shinobis to stop.

Jiraiya, seeing that the shinobi with the cat mask seemed to be the leader of the team, went up to him and introduced themselves, "You may not remember us, but we have returned. I am Jiraiya and—" pointing to Naruto, "this is Uzumaki Naruto."

"NARUTO!!" The masked shinobi screeched.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"NARUTO!" The masked shinobi screeched, astonishment embedded into the voice, and then the shinobi quickly yanked the mask off her face.

What the mask revealed was a beautiful sight. It was a woman with short strawberry pink hair, and flawless honey gold skin. She was tall and slender with no amount of frailty. The girl had faded green eyes, and, in Naruto's opinion, quite a big mouth. The girl's voice was low and soft, but at this moment her screech was more of a nail on the chalkboard. All in all, Naruto thought the girl was quite beautiful, but he was not blown away by it.

Before Naruto could gather anymore information from the woman, the woman leapt into his arms and LITERALLY, squeezed the living daylights out of him.

"Naruto, you've been gone for so long. We all miss you so much. Welcome back," the woman jabbered on animatedly.

Staring at the woman as if she was crazy, Naruto hastily pushed his way out of the woman's embrace. When Naruto was finally able to escape from the woman's embrace, he said in a cold, freezing voice, "Who the hell are you?"

Shocked, the woman just stared speechlessly into Naruto's icy blue eyes, her mouth gaping like a fish out of water, seeking air.

The other five shinobis, seeing Sakura silenced for the first time, in a very long time, quickly stepped forward and began to introduce themselves.

Stepping forward, the tallest of the group began the introduction. "I am Geroui Huroni, the oldest and most experienced of the team. That—" pointing to the shortest member, "is Hisou Unisa—" then going on down the line of shinobis, "the one next to him is Kyo Shunam, Hamuro Juo, and Kasami Kuran." Clearing his throat, he finally introduced the only female in the group, "And that is Haruno Sakura."

At the mention of her name, Sakura finally snapped out of her shock and stared menacingly at Naruto. "_What do you mean,_ y_ou don't remember **me**!?"_

"Actually," Naruto began in a cold detached voice, "I don't remember you or anyone...why should I?"

Sakura's anger turned into confusion. "What do you mean, Naruto? How can you not remember anyone?"

"That means that I don't know you and I don't intend or want to know you," Naruto stated emotionlessly. Turning away from Sakura, Naruto said carelessly to Jiraiya, "Sensei, are we going to the Hokage or not?", before he turned towards the Hokage's headquarters and started off.

Quickly running to catch up with Naruto, Jiraiya asked him quietly, "Why did you say that to her?"

Without pausing or turning to look at him, Naruto just said quietly to him, "I do not want anybody else involved in my problems. I do not want another death on my hands...one is enough."

"Naruto, it was not your fault. It was never your fault," Jiraiya said, even though he knew that Naruto would never listen to him about this subject. "You didn't do anything wrong. You were **just** a child." Jiraiya continued.

Finally Naruto stopped and turned to stare at him with glass eyes, "One death on my hands is enough, I don't want anymore deaths on my hands. Everything that happened was my fault. No one else's." Saying this in an empty tone, Naruto once again began to walk towards the Hokage's headquarters.

Knowing that Naruto had not heard a single word about what he had said, Jiraiya stayed silent and just continued to walk along side Naruto.

When they entered the building, they went straight to the Hokage's office. After the first knock, the door was opened to reveal a woman wearing a black robe, with short black hair. In her arms, she was holding a pig with a pearl necklace around its throat and wearing a purple jacket.

_Puu puu puu_

"Shizune, we have just arrived. May we talk to Tsunade?" Jiraiya questioned.

"Uhh…yeah…come in," Shizune finished before quickly ushering them in to the room announcing to the Hokage, "Tsunade, they have arrived."

Hearing this announcement, Tsunade quickly jumped out of her chair and ran straight to Naruto, quickly embracing him (Naruto and Tsunade met each other the same way as in the anime, just a few minor differences that I might tell at a later date ), and thinking to herself _Thank god for saving me from having to do my paperwork. Thank You! Thank You._Than she continuously kissed cheeks over and over again, not stopping until Naruto said _**IT**_.

"I think that you can stop it now, old Granny," Naruto mumbled, as clearly as possible passed Tsunade's suffocating kisses.

Stopping, Tsunade stiffened and then slowly drew herself away from Naruto and said forebodingly to him, "_**What** did you just **call** me_?"

Before Naruto could say _Ohh…shit!_ He had already flown clear out of the building. _Why did I say that?_ Naruto thought bemusedly at himself,_ Oh yeah, because she **IS** an old lady._Naruto chuckled softly to himself as he swiftly returned to the headquarters, undaunted by his injuries.

When Naruto got back into the building, he saw that Jiraiya was already gone and Tsunade was sitting behind her desk once more, but this time she had her ever present sake bottle in her hand. Walking up to Tsunade, Naruto asked energetically, "Hey, where is Ero—senin?"

About to tip the sake bottle back for another sip, Tsunade stopped and looked at Naruto for a minute before saying to him, "He has already left."

Surprised, Naruto uttered at her, "What do you mean? He can't leave without me. We go everywhere together. He still haven't taught me the finally stages yet."

Tsunade stood up, knowing that Naruto was going to bolt out of the room, and stopped him before he could take another step. "Naruto, you have to stay. You have stayed away from here long enough." Pausing for a second, Tsunade continued on cautiously. "Have you found them?"

Staring at the floor, Naruto shook his head and said, "No, not yet," then suddenly he looked up and stared straight at Tsunade, fire burning in his eyes, "but I will find them."

Tsunade staggered back, stunned by the fierce burning in Naruto's eyes, in his soul. She felt great sorrow for what had happened to Naruto and his family. She knew that if a person looked at Naruto, the person could hardly tell that he was suffering or see his pain because he was great at hiding his true feelings. Even she didn't notice anything about how Naruto really felt until Jiraiya told her everything. Once he did, she could see the pain hidden deep in Naruto eyes, the windows into his soul. She wanted to do everything within her powers to help Naruto, because she loved him like a brother and did not want to lose him to the darkness that was eating away at his soul.

"Naruto, you will be living in an apartment a few blocks away from the ramen stand. You will be assigned missions and will be working on those missions with your former team mates, Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke (yes, Sasuke is still with team 7)." Tsunade said, swiftly changing the topic.

Looking at Tsunade for a moment, Naruto finally said, "I will stay here and do missions with my former team as long as you do not tell any one what happened and why I left. I don't want anyone else involved in any of my problems." Pausing for a second, he looked at Tsunade and when she confirmed her agreement, he continued on saying, "I have already told Sakura, whom I met at the entrance, that I do not remember her or anyone else in the village. I will keep it that way."

Exasperated with Naruto and his way of thinking, Tsunade just said, "Do whatever you want on this matter. As long as you stay, it doesn't matter." Returning back to her seat and picking up her bottle of sake that she had left on the desk, she sat down and said to him, "You may go now. Tomorrow is going to be a hard day," before taking a sip of her sake. Without saying anything more, Naruto nodded his head, turned towards the door and left.

Tsunade was just taking another sip of her sake when it was suddenly yanked out of her hands and thrown straight out of the hole that Naruto flew through.

"Hey!!" Tsunade shouted, outraged.

" 'Hey' yourself. Now get back to work, Hokage." Shizune said crossly at Tsunade.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm workin'," Tsunade muttered incoherently, slowly getting back to her paperwork. Then silently she mumbled to herself, "_Grouch_."

* * *

Sorry if the chapter is not as long as you would like it to be.

please read and reveiw. thanx!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEEEEP!

A hand poked out from under the covers, searching all around for the resounding beeping. Finally finding it, Naruto angrily slammed the maker of the BEEPING, stopping it in mid beep. Happy for the silence, Naruto slowly sank back into the folds of sleep. Suddenly Naruto jerked out of bed, and stared at the silent alarm clock. It was half past 8. And he was late. Really late.

"Oh shit! I'm dead."

**********************************************

Running quickly through the village, Naruto finally reached the bridge where the team was supposed to meet each other.

"Hey, Naruto! You're late," Sakura screeched at him as soon as she saw him quickly heading towards the bridge.

"Hai, Hai. I know. I had a late night last night," Naruto cheerfully told Sakura and the rest of the team. "Oh…I almost forgot," he walked up to his former team members and stuck his hand out. "Good morning, I am Uzumaki Naruto, who will be the hokage one day." Naruto introduced himself, quickly shaking everyone's surprised hands.

Jerking quickly out of his surprise, Kakashi began to introduce everyone. "I am Hatake Kakashi," pointing to the pale raven haired man by his side, "he is Uchiha Sasuke and…" pointing to the pink haired girl next to Sasuke. "She is Haruno Sakura."

"Oh yeah, I know you," he said as he was about to shake his hand. "You're the ugly pink haired screecher from last night when I entered the gates. You have an awfully large pair of lungs."

"Aww!!!!!" Sakura screamed, deafeningly before she yanked at Naruto's hand and began to pummel him with her chakra swings. Kakashi and Sasuke quickly reacted, pulling Sakura as far away from Naruto as possible.

"What was that for," Naruto asked, rubbing his jaw and chest, as the bruises on his body slowly started to fade.

"That," Sakura began tensely through clenched teeth, "is for calling me an 'ugly pink haired screecher.'" Slowly calming herself down (she couldn't over-react anymore because Sasuke—her crush—was there), Sakura turned away from Naruto and said to Kakashi, "Now that our late member is here, what is our first mission of the day?"

"Well, our mission, starting today and into the next month, will be to escort Princess Mika and her entourage to the Fire Temple. We are to meet up with them at the border of the River and Fire country." Kakashi paused, and before Naruto could say anything in outrage—his mouth was already starting to open—Kakashi quickly interrupted him. "This is a B rank mission."

"But Sensei," Naruto began, "why do we have to do our first mission as a B rank? We're older than we were back then, can't we have a different mission?" Naruto finished, looking at his other team members. "Right Sakura, Sasuke?"

Still pissed off at Naruto, Sakura haughtily stuck her nose up and said to him, "Whatever Naruto, just because you return to Konoha older doesn't mean that you have gotten any better brain power or physical strength. It could have been that during your whole time out of Konoha with Jiraiya, you spent it on filling your mouth with ramen and perverted sight seeing instead of training."

Naruto glared angrily at Sakura before he turned and inquiring eye to Sasuke. Sasuke, seeing that Naruto was looking at him, turned away from Naruto and instead asked uninterestedly to Kakashi, "When are we going to start going?"

Knowing that Naruto was now completely beaten, Kakashi dismissed them and told them to go and pack up before meeting each other at the south gate within the hour.

One hour later, the team was rounded up at the south gate awaiting the arrival of their sensei. The team members were completely surprised when Kakashi appeared before the hour was gone. Sakura and Sasuke, knowing that the only reason why Kakashi would ever arrive early was the only time when there was something extremely important, did not say anything other than a small short greeting. Naruto, on the other hand, having not had a chance to spend much time since he was twelve with Kakashi, did not realize this.

"Wow, Kakashi, you're actually here on time, I don't remember you ever having been to any place on time before." Naruto tried to joke with his team members.

Looking confusedly at Naruto, Sakura asked him, "What do you mean? I thought you said that you remembered nothing about the twelve years of your life that you spent here in Konoha."

Caught in his own trap, Naruto tried to lie his way through it. "Of course I don't remember you," Naruto began modestly, "but I believe that I do remember Kakashi-sensei."

Deeply insulted by Naruto, the guy who once had a huge crush on her and now thought her not important enough to remember, Sakura turned a deep angry shade of red and quickly stepped away from Naruto before she could do any further damage to him.

Of course, Naruto, being Naruto, did not noticed this however. And so he continued one with his unintentional insult. "Of course I don't understand why I would even want to remember someone with such a big forehead as you. Oh yeah, not only do you have a huge forehead, you also have a disgustingly huge temper…" Naruto's voice slowly faded as he realized what he had just said to Sakura in front of the guy she wanted to date, her sensei, and the gate guards. Gulping noticeably, Naruto looked at Sakura's turned back, dread in his eyes. _UHH…OHH…_

_My goodness,_ Sasuke thought sarcastically to himself, _he's gone and done it now hasn't he?_ Just as he finished thinking this Sakura turned around and faced Naruto, face as red as an over ripe tomato, eyes a frozen green tundra, pink hair standing on end and smoke rushing out of her ears. Refusing to step in the way to save Naruto the second time around, both Kakashi and Sasuke swiftly left Naruto's side.

As Naruto glanced around, he noticed that both Sasuke and Kakashi were quickly stepping away. Wetting his suddenly drying lips, Naruto tried to calm Sakura down…but it was too late.

*******************************************

Finally, they could now begin their mission, either limping or walking; they will all reach their destination together.

********************************************

Jumping from tree to tree, the members of Team 7 rapidly traveled through the forests of the Fire country towards the River country's border. As Naruto jumped through the woods, the pain from Sakura's fist began to ebb away and his bruises and cuts healed long before the pain actually lessens, he starts talking about how great he will be one day and how one day he will be the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Still pissed off at Naruto, Sakura threatened Naruto to either stop or suffer the consequences. Of course Naruto, having matured (even if it's a little) over the past 10 years, did shut up…but not for long.

"Eh…Eh…Kakashi-sensei, how long is it going to take us to reach the border?" Naruto finally asked a sensible question for once.

Completely astounded by Naruto's sensible question, the rest of Team 7 froze in mid-jump and gave him an astounded look before all three of them fell to the forest floor.

Swiftly recovering from his surprise, Kakashi landed on his feet just as the other two landed beside him on their butts.

Naruto, realizing what he had just done, sweat dropped and quickly tried to think up of a proper excuse and lie to tell his teammates.

Recovering from their rough fall, both Sakura and Sasuke slowly stood up and resisted the urge to rub their butts.

"Naruto, did I hear that correctly," Sakura asked, aghast.

"What's wrong with asking about how long it would take us to get there?" Naruto asked innocently as he gave them the best impression of the old Naruto which they remembered. "I just want to know because I am very hungry and want some of Ichiruki's ramen." Naruto said as he gave them his brightest smile.

"I believe that we shall be arriving at the border in two weeks time if we take a rest once in a while." Kakashi answered.

"But sensei I want to eat some ramen right nowwwww…" Naruto began to whine, swiftly hiding behind his mask once more.

"NARUTO!" Sakura warned menacingly as she raised her fist to deliver her threatening fist.

"Okay…okay…fine." Naruto said petulantly as he turned around and returned to the tree tops. The rest of the team members quickly followed, and so they began their journey once more.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AN: sorry for taking so long just to write such a short chapter. was being too lazy and finding time to write this story was even more difficult

i'll try better for the next chapter so please...bear with me!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Princess Mika," Hiroshi, her guard captain, screamed painfully as blood gurgled out of his mouth. "Gomene, Hime-chan. Forgive me…ne?" Hiroshi asked hesitantly as he fell on to the dusty road and began to gurgle out more of his lifeblood.

"Hiroshi," Mika cried as she laid his head onto her lap, crystalline tears slowly made a path down her soft, pale white cheeks and onto the man's bloody face. "You can't go. Remember, you made a promise to bring me and my people to the Fire Country. You promised that together, you and I will ask for assistance from the Hokage of the Fire Country. Y—you…" Mika stopped herself, struggling to compose herself and calm down.

Before Princess Mika could continue with her tearful cries Hiroshi quietly interrupted her. Using his last strength, Hiroshi whispered to her, "Before we left…I sent a…a…job request…Konoha…send shinobi…escort…you…Fire Temple. Hime…go—gomenesai." Hiroshi whispered softly as his eyes lost its brilliance light of life.

"_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"_

* * *

Hearing a sudden loud screech about a mile or two ahead of them, Team 7 quickly increased their speed and ran towards the loud painful cry. As Team 7 approached the scream, they quickly spread out, each going in their own separate directions. As Naruto left his teammates behind, he threw off his 'old Naruto' mask and the serious and blank stare of emptiness and pain was finally revealed in his cool blue eyes. Of course no one noticed this sudden change in Naruto's demeanor, since everyone was focused on finding out what that scream was about.

Finally reaching a good hiding spot, Naruto quietly glanced through the branches on the tree. As the sight before him reached his eyes, they slowly widened in shock and his stomach trembled with nausea.

Lying on the road before him were dismembered bodies everywhere. Everywhere he looked, he saw blood soaking into the dry, dusty road and blood staing the rich green brushwood within the vicinity. _Who could have done this?_ Naruto thought savagely to himself. Sickened by the bloody sight; Naruto almost didn't notice the girl howling uncontrollably as she clung vehemently onto the dead body lying before her.

Glancing around to make sure that it was safe to get out from his hiding spot, Naruto swiftly replaced his mask and jumped down from the tree. Walking loud enough to make sure that the girl could hear him, Naruto announced his presence.

Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, Mika swiftly silenced her cries of grief and grabbed for the sword embedded with a blood ruby still clenched in Hiroshi's cold hand. Silently and swiftly, Mika flipped over Hiroshi's lifeless body and turned in mid-air, landing softly on her feet with Hiroshi's sword clenched tightly in her small pale hand.

Quickly, Mika focused her eyes on the tall man standing ten yards from her. He had a mane of long blonde hair, which ended just at the hip. His long blonde hair was tied together at the back of his neck, and blew around listlessly as if it were alive. He was tall and of a build that wasn't too slender or too bulky. He was completely clothed in an unforgiving black cloak, with a small worn brown pouch attached to his right thigh underneath it. But what really captured her attention and made her immobile…were his eyes. They were a cool shade of blue, full of cheer and happiness. But as she looked deeper into the depths of his blue eyes, she felt a sudden tremor of terror and a cold chill slowly crept down her back, as if someone had just walked over her grave. Frozen in complete terror, Mika could do nothing but stare at him as he slowly approached.

Mika was suddenly broken out of her dazed look when the blonde man finally stopped and spoke loudly to her, his face scrunched up in both confusion and cheeriness.

"Ne, what is wrong?" Naruto asked, as he stood in front of the girl.

"Who are you?" The girl standing before him demanded steadily, the sword clenched unsteadily between her hands.

Knowing that the girl was not a threat to him or his teammates, Naruto introduced himself with a loud and cheerful voice, "Hi, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage of the Konoha."

As Naruto finished introducing himself, the rest of his team leapt out of their hiding place, and approached the girl, introducing themselves.

"Hi, I'm Haruno Sakura," said the pink haired girl.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the pale blue haired guy pronounced sternly.

"And I am Hatake Kakashi, the team leader," said the gray haired man with a mask covering the bottom part of his face and the Konoha headband over his left eye. Looking thoughtfully at his surroundings, Kakashi turned back towards the girl and said confidently, "You're the little girl, Princes Mika of the River Country."

Surprised and shocked that such an unkempt man would know who she was, all what Mika could do was splutter out, "H—how do you know?"

Realizing that she was spluttering like a commoner, Mika swiftly silenced herself and calmed down before she continued on. "Yes, I am Princess Mika of the River Country and I am not a little girl. I am of a marriageable age of 20 springs." Holding her head high and looking down her nose at them and with an officious tone said, "I assume that the four of you are the Konoha shinobi that Hiroshi sent for?"

"We sure are!" The blonde man shouted cheerfully. "I am the number one ninja in Konoha. Of course, being the best, I will be sent here to help you. One day I will…"

"Shut up, you _baka_," the pink haired girl, Sakura, shouted at Naruto as her chakra powered fist slammed against him, sending his head into the ground by her feet.

Disapproving of the woman's crude and violent behavior, Mika tilted her head a notch higher and said coldly to Sakura, "With that much strength and power, I am sure that you can deal with this field of dead bodies, nee?"

Surprised, Sakura could only open and close her mouth like a fish, pale green eyes bulging from their sockets.

"Ughh..." Naruto groaned as he slow got back up on his feet. "You know? That hurt like hell. I could have been k—"

"Oh, shut up," Sakura screamed angrily as she turned around and stomped off to look for possible burial sites.

"She's one rude lady," Mika stated quietly, staring at Sakura's receding back making sure that Sakura couldn't hear her.

"Oi, she's not that bad." Naruto said to Mika as she returned her gaze to the trio. "At least I don't think so." After a silent pause Naruto said thoughtfully to out loud, "You know? I was pretty sure that I had never seen that woman before in my life. I wonder why she's always hitting me."

Suddenly Naruto turned towards his sensei and comrade inquiring cheerily with a lift of his left brow, "Ne, do you guys know why Sakura-san always hits me?"

Glancing sharply at Naruto, Sasuke calmly replied, "Because you are a _ahoo_ and you don't remember her."

"Nani? I don't understand," Naruto said as he frowned in fake confusion. "How can I remember someone that I had never seen before? Ne?"

"Whatever," Sasuke replied, turning sharply away from Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei, what are we going to do with all these dead bodies?"

Seeing that it was now finally time for him to take charge, Kakashi looked at his past students and the princess and told them what they had to do. "First, we will find a burial ground large enough to bury all the dead bodies, than we will make camp. When we have settled, Princess Mika," Kakashi said as he stared straight into her pale yellow eyes, "will tell us what happened."

"Yes," Mika responded even though Kakashi had not asked her a question. "I will."

* * *

"We were on our way to the border, when we were suddenly ambushed." Mika began, flares of anger apparent in her bright yellow eyes, glowing in fiercely in the fire light.

"Who ambushed you?" Sasuke asked.

"I—I don't know," Mika answered holding her head in her hands. "I don't know who they were. I had never seen anyone like them before."

"What did they look like?" Naruto asked nonchalantly, staring intently into the fire.

"Well…there were only two of them. But they were extremely strong. They wore long, dark cloaks with red clouds on it and a red interior with a chin-high collar. On their head was a large conical straw hat with small spike-like bells hanging from it. Because of the straw hat I couldn't really see their faces, but one of them was carrying a three bladed scythe and screaming about a god called Ja...Ja- something. Yeah, Jashin. The other one had his mouth and nose covered, just like Kakashi-sensei." Mika answered, looking slowly at the four shinobi surrounding the fire.

As soon as Naruto heard this, his gaze jerked away from the fire and he looked sharply at her. Then with a forced calmness, Naruto whispered, "_Akatsuki_…"

"Akatsuki," Kakashi said at the same time as Naruto, his head snapped back in revelation. "Only they are powerful and sordid enough to use these methods of killing." Suddenly Kakashi stared piercingly at Mika with his single uncovered eye. "Why are they after you?"

"Because I am…"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"_Why are they after you?"_

"Because I am…the jinchuuriki of the Shichibi no Kaku, the seven tailed demon badger. I know that they will come again, and when they do I don't know if I'll be able to protect my country and my people the way I am supposed to. I had always known that I was the Shichibi no Kaku, I had known that ever since I was born. My parents loved me, and so did the people of the River Country, and I loved them too. They also knew that inside of me was the Shichibi no Kaku, that I was the Jinchuuriki, but they loved me anyway. They trusted me to protect them...and here I am," tears slowly dribbled down her porcelain face. "I can't even protect them. Instead, they all died protecting _me_! I was the one who ran away like a coward." Mika whispered the last part brokenly, a sob crawling up her tight throat.

"At least you still have people who love you," Naruto whispered, as he looked sadly up at the bright full moon overhead, his facade gone for a moment.

Not hearing what Naruto said, Sakura turned sympathetically towards Mika and tried to comfort her. "And now it's your turn to protect them no matter what. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand," Mika whispered back, slowly wiping the tear streaks on her cheeks, eyes staring inertly into the burning flames. "That's why I decided to flee to the Fire Country." Finally looking away from the fire, Mika stared up into the gathered faces surrounding the fire. "Do you know how long it will take us to reach Konoha?" Mika asked after a slight pause, her question directed towards Kakashi.

"If we start off for Konoha early tomorrow, we can possibly reach Konoha by next week." Kakashi responded. "We should probably go and take a rest right now." Kakashi said tiredly, although it sounded more like a command. "I'll take the first watch. The second watch will be Sakura, and then Sasuke, and finally Naruto will take the last watch."

"_Hai_," the three automatically agreed.

"Princess Mika, you and Sakura will go be sleeping by the fire, while the rest of us will sleep in a protected circle around the campsite. I know that you guys are no longer children, but when you're going anywhere, take a partner with you."

"_Hai, Okaa-san_," team 7 sarcastically responded together, small smirks on each of their faces.

"Hmph," Kakashi grunted when he saw their smirks. "Just go do your stuff." Kakashi demanded. As soon as they started to move away from the fire, Kakashi opened his hidden pocket and pulled out his all time favorite book, _Come, Come Paradise_. _Finally, my love, I have returned to thee!_ Smiling with perverted glee, Kakashi began to read the book. When the others saw Kakashi pull out his book they knew that Kakashi was smiling, even though they could not his smile behind the black mask covering the bottom half of his face.

"_Oy_, that Kakashi-sensei is still the same, isn't he?" Naruto commented humorously.

"You remember him?" Sakura asked with a hitched brow.

Suddenly noticing his slip of the tongue, Naruto rapidly came up with something to say. "No, I don't think so. But he does remind me of someone." Naruto said a small tense smile on his soft lips.

"Ohh," caught by surprise, Sakura stared wide-eyed at Naruto. "Who did he remind you of?"

"_Ero-senin_," Naruto said, blurting out the first name that came to mind.

"What?" Sakura asked, confused. Was Naruto calling her a perverted sage?

At the dangerous gleam in Sakura's eyes, Naruto swiftly continued, "No, I wasn't calling you that. Remember the night I arrived in Konoha?" At Sakura's rigid nod, Naruto continued. "There was a big old guy traveling with me. He had long grayish white hair tied into a low ponytail and he was carrying a scroll on his back. He was Jiraiya, one of the three great sannins. I call him _Ero-senin_. So I wasn't calling you that. OK? Now, where is Sasuke-kun, I need to talk to him about our sleeping arrangement. Good night," and with a cheerful smile and energetic wave to the two women, Naruto went off shouting for Sasuke at the top of his lungs. _Thank goodness, I escaped. I have got to be more careful with my tongue._

Perplexed at how quickly the conversation was changed than suddenly cut off, Sakura just stared at Naruto's disappearing back. "That was odd. I have no idea what just happened."

"Me too," Mika murmured, staring wide-eyed at Naruto and back to Sakura. "Well, let's go get ready for bed, Haruno-san."

"Call me Sakura," Sakura immediately reacted.

"Fine, but you have to call me Mika," Mika countered.

"Okay," Sakura said cheerily as she dismissed Naruto altogether from her mind.

He didn't know what woke him but he slowly opened his eyes and found that he was lying underneath a velvet sky with stars twinkling like diamonds, winking joyfully at him, from above. As the beautiful sight came into clearer focus, Naruto's joy at its beautiful sight slowly ebbed away. And before he knew it, the small glimmer in his eyes went out and an empty, poignant look entered his striking cerulean eyes.

"_Okaa-san_," Naruto whispered desolately into the shrouded stillness. "Are you up there watching me, right now," tears blurred the glittering stars as sobs of pain and loneliness choked him, as little by little memories began to filter into his mind.

**Flashback**

"_Mommy, I'm scared," three year old Naruto said, face scrunched up with fear._

"_Don't be scared, hunny," Kushina whispered soothingly to Naruto as she hugged him to her chest. "Mommy's here now. Mommy will protect you always okay?"_

"_Even from the monsters in my closet," Naruto asked._

"_Yes," Kushina answered a soft smile on her lips._

"_What about the monsters from under the bed?" Naruto asked tearful eyes staring back at Kushina's aquamarine eyes._

_Chuckling softly at her son, Kushina respond softly, rubbing his back gently. "Yes, even them. I will protect you always Naruto. Always."_

**Flashback Ends**

"Always…ehh…_Okaa-san_," Naruto whispered to the night sky.

**Flashback**

"_Mommy! Mommy! Look at me," Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs. Naruto was walking up the trunk of the tallest tree in their backyard, when Kushina heard his excited shout. When she saw what Naruto was doing, Kushina's heart almost stopped beating._

"_Naruto," Kushina said her heart pounding erratically in her chest. "Get down here this instant." Kushina demanded as she clenched onto the window sill over the kitchen sink._

"_But, Mommy, look. I can walk up the trunk of the tree," Naruto answered back cheerfully. "I can almost…" before Naruto could finish what he was about to say, he lost control of the chakra on his feet and began to fall. He was half way up the tree when he fell._

_As soon as she saw Naruto start to fall, Kushina leapt out of the kitchen window, flipped through the air, landed on her feet, and sprinted like hell was on her tail to catch Naruto just before his small six year old body could hit the hard ground._

"_Mommy," Naruto said petrified, tearfully, hugging Kushina's neck furiously._

"_You're alright now, hunny," Kushina whispered softly into his ears, clinging on to him for dear life. "Remember what I said to you? I will always protect you." Kushina said frantically kissing Naruto's tear stained face, her tears falling onto her pale, terrified face. "Now, promise me that you will never do that again."_

"_But, Mommy," Naruto said. "I can't p'omise that because if I do that I will never be as good as Daddy. I p'omise t'at one day I will be as good as Daddy." After a second pause, Naruto went on, "Or maybe one day I will even su'pass Daddy."_

"_Naruto, you're only six years old," Kushina said heartbreakingly. "You don't have to be better than your father. You don't have to start now."_

"_No, Mommy I can't do that, because I want to be the one to protect you. I want to protect you forever." Naruto said a streak of stubbornness coming to the fore. "You see, Mommy. Last night, I dreamed of Daddy. He came to me and told me that I have to become stronger so that I can protect you. He also taught me how to use and control my chakra. When I become stronger, I will protect you. Okay Mommy?"_

_With tears in her aqua eyes, she whispered raggedly to Naruto, "Okay, hunny, but you have to take care. Do not do foolish things."_

"_Thank you Mommy, I promise you I will grow up to be stronger than Daddy so that one day I will the one protecting you." Naruto declared joyously, running back to the tree and beginning to climb it once again._

"_You are so much like your father," Kushina whispered watching over Naruto as he tried again to climb the tree. And every time he fell, she was right there waiting to catch him into her loving arms._

**Flashback End**

"I was too late, wasn't I _Okaa-san_. I didn't become strong enough to protect you. I promised to protect you; instead I was the one who caused you to die, wasn't I? It was because of me and Kitsune-chan (nine-tail demon's name) wasn't it?" Naruto murmured furiously as he tried to quell the single tear that fell from his pain filled blue eyes. "I was too weak. I should have trained harder; I should have been there with you that day. Why did you send me away to school that morning when you knew that they were coming? Why didn't you let Kitsune-chan and I protect you?"

**Flashback**

_Kushina was sitting outside pruning her rose bushes in the early dawning of a new day when she felt the menacing and powerful amount of chakra rapidly heading to Konoha. Suddenly jerking up from her bent over position, Kushina rushed into the house and quickly awakened Naruto._

"_Hunny, it's time to get up," Kushina said with false cheer. "You're going to be late if you don't get up now." As soon as she was sure that Naruto was awake, she quickly returned to the kitchen and made Naruto's favorite breakfast._

_Mumbling tiredly, Naruto got up from bed and began to get dressed. When he finally went downstairs, Naruto found that his mother had cooked him his favorite meal…RAMEN!! There was a huge bowl of it sitting right there on the kitchen table. Hardly noticing that his mother was sitting outside, Naruto ran to the table, drool dripping like rain from his mouth. "Itadakimasu!!" Naruto shouted as he began to slurp down the noodles._

_When Naruto had finished eating, he ran outside and gave his mother a big hug. "Mommy, you make the most delicious ramen ever. I love you, Mommy."_

"_I love you too, hunny," Kushina said, hugging him furiously to her bosom a single tear leaking from her aquamarine eyes. "Never forget that I love you, no matter what."_

"_I know," Naruto said as he disengaged himself from his mother's arms. "Mommy, you have to let me go now or I will be late for school." Seeing tears on his mother's face he asked her, "Mommy, do you want me to stay with you?"_

"_No, no." Kushina instantly responded, panicked, she quickly came up with a topic to distract Naruto. "You have to go to school, hunny, if you want to become stronger than your father."_

"_Okay," Naruto said cheerfully, but he still felt that he was needed here with his mother. When he looked back he saw tears in his mother's beautiful eyes and nearly ran back to her, but he was a big boy now, and big boys were suppose to be able to go to school alone and on time. With a final cheerful wave to his mother, Naruto turned back around and finally went off to school._

_Unbeknownst to him, Kushina was killed three hours later._

**Flashback End**

"_Okaa-san_, am I still too weak to get revenge for you? How much longer will it take me to finally find all of them?" Naruto asked slowly wiping the single tear that fell from his azure eyes. "I had not been strong enough to protect you, _Okaa-san_. But now that I am stronger, I will protect everything that I love. I will get your revenge." Naruto said determinedly and stubbornly. Right as he finished his vow to his mother, he heard someone walking towards his sleeping area. As he listened to the silent footsteps approaching him, he recognized it and wasn't surprised when Sasuke's voice came out of the darkness telling him to get up.

Pretending to be miffed at being awoken from his sleep, Naruto grumbled and groaned so loudly everyone could hear him.

"Naruto, if you don't shut up," Sakura threatened evilly, "I am going to kill you."

Hearing Sakura's threat, Naruto quickly quieted and reluctantly got up. "Sasuke-kun, you can go to sleep now." Naruto said disgruntled.

Looking coolly at Naruto, Sasuke said, "Keep your eyes open, Naruto. They might find us at any moment." Nodding his head at Sasuke, Naruto left Sasuke and went to walk around the campsite in search of a place to sit and keep watch.

Shaking his head tiredly, Sasuke stared skeptically at Naruto's disappearing back and thought silently to himself, _Something's not right about Naruto, could he have changed this much in 10 years? He seems to be acting as if he is always so cheerful, but once in a while, when he thinks that no one is watching him, I'd see a bitter blankness in his cobalt eyes. What is Naruto up to?_ Sasuke went to sleep that night thinking of some kind of way to get Naruto, who he once saw as a brother, to tell him the truth. Before he got through figuring out a plan, Sasuke fell into a deep and dark nightmare that he had not dreamed of ever since he became a chuunin.

**One week later…**

They had been traveling for one week straight with barely any rest, and it was killing her. When Naruto glanced back and saw Mika lagging in the back, Naruto stopped and waited for her to catch up. When Mika finally reached Naruto, she was out of breath and sweating like crazy.

"_Hime-sama_," Naruto inquired softly. "Would you like to rest for a little bit?"

When Mika heard this, she turned towards Naruto and glared daggers at him saying, "No, I would not. Plus, I'm not tired." Stubbornness and pride making her go faster, even though her legs and back was aching like crazy. Seeing how stubborn Mika was, and respecting it, Naruto decided to take matters into his own hand before her stubbornness and pride caused her to get hurt.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto whined. "I'm tired, I want to rest."

Kakashi stopped when he heard Naruto complain from way behind him. Looking back he saw that Naruto was the furthest one back, and he was leaning against the tree trunk, sitting on the tree branch breathing heavily. Seeing that Naruto was tired, Kakashi decided to stop for a break. "_Minna_, we can take a little break before we start off again. But Naruto, remember that we have to get back to Konoha as soon as possible, we don't want to be ambushed by the Akatsuki clan." Kakashi said as he, Sasuke, and Sakura returned to where Naruto had stopped.

"Ohh, I'm tired," Naruto said tiredly, pretending to be out of breath and breathing hard, rubbing the sole of his feet and his 'aching' back. During their little break, all what Naruto did was complain about how worn-out he was and such nonsense. It was all because of Naruto that no one saw how exhausted Mika really was and she was grateful.

When it was time to start off again, Mika stayed behind with Naruto and waited until the other members had gone before she said shyly to him, "_Arigato Naruto-kun_." A small blush tingeing her tired pale face.

"It was nothing," Naruto said as he gave her a mischievous wink before he went after the others.

Luckily for her, Naruto did not turn back to give her another glance, because if he did he would have seen her blush tomato red. _He's got a cute butt_, Mika thought blushingly to herself before she started off, unable to take her eyes off his attractive black encased butt.


	6. Chapter 6

"_Italicized words"_ are thoughts

"_**Italicized and bolded words"**_ are Kitsune's replies

"**Bold words" **are Kitsune's own thoughts

**Chapter 6**

"Pein," Konan, the woman with an origami flower sitting behind her left ear said. "How many are there left?"

In a low, and chilling voice, he answered, "Five."

"Do you know where they all are?" Konan questioned staring emotionlessly at Pein. "They are catching up to us, Pein. We need to split up and search for them soon."

"Yes," Pein whispered frigidly, eyes cold and empty of all humanity. "Have Hidan, Kakuzu, Itachi, Tobi, and Zetsu make their astral projections. We will meet them at **the place**."

"What about the others?" Konan asked, wondering why he didn't say anything about the others.

"Dead." Pein said, eyes frozen like tundra and lips pinched together into a long thin line. "Konoha. Sand Village."

"Go. Summon them. Now," Pein commanded, without a single glance her way.

"Hai," Konan replied, rapidly leaving the room. After she had summoned them and told them to meet Pein and her at **the place**, Konan returned to Pein's side and both of them sent their astral projections to **the place**.

"Why'd you call us here, Pein?" Tobi asked impertinently, his astral projection wavering in the air.

"I know where the rest of the jinchuuriki are." Pein chillingly offered to the rest of the organization members. "Listen well. The Shukaku (One Tail) is in the Hidden Sand Village. Houkou (Five Tail) is in the Hidden Waterfall Village. Kaku (Seven Tail) is in the River Country. Yamata no Orochi (Eight Tail) is in the Hidden Cloud Village. The Kyuubi no Youko (Nine Tail) is in the Hidden Leaf Village. We no longer have the time to move slowly and covertly. Konoha has found out what we are trying to do. Therefore, we have no choice but to gather the jinchuuriki individually. Hidan, you will go to the Hidden Waterfall Village. Tobi, you will go to the Hidden Cloud Village. Zetsu, you will go to the River Country. Kakuzu, you will go to the Hidden Sand Village. And Itachi, you will go to the Hidden Leaf Village. Get to them quickly, for Konoha has already found their whereabouts. We must not let them get to the jinchuuriki and their bijuu first. Our time is limited. Now, go!" With this command, their projections vanished into the air.

"Good job Pein," Tobi said from behind his orange mask. "You seemed to have gotten better, now."

"_Arigato_, Madara-sama," Pein replied, inclining his head in respect towards the man in the orange swirling mask.

In a serious tone of voice, Tobi said to Pein, "Is that all the information that you have gathered so far?"

"Yes master," Pein replied emotionlessly looking straight into Tobi's single eye. "If we give them a surprise attack, we will capture them easily. Konoha will not notice until it is too late."

Suddenly Tobi evicted a loud shout of menacing laughter, "Konoha, you've been a thorn in my side for too long. This time I will destroy you. Go Pein, Konan, I will finally have them all." Tobi gave another menacing laugh before he disappeared into the air.

"Hey Pein," Konan asked quietly looking at Pein's astral projection, "Why did we chose to follow Uchiha Madara?"

"Because he is strong and we want the same thing that he wants." Pein replied soullessly before he too vanished.

Shaking her head silently from side to side, Konan whispered to nobody in particular. "I don't trust that Uchiha Madara. We should never had gotten involved with him in the first place." As she whispered the last words, her astral projection vanished as well.

No one noticed that throughout this whole exchange there was an extra projection, listening on to their every word and memorizing it, word for word. When everyone was finally gone, the projection smiled to himself.

_Hey, Kitsune, we out-smarted them didn't we?_

_**Yes, Kit, we did.**_ The voice said a fox grin was evident in its low scratchy voice. _**Yes, we did.**_

_The cat is out of the bag._ A small foxy grin appeared on the eavesdropper's lips before he too disappeared into the air.

* * *

**At the gates of Konoha**

"Yippee! We're back!" Naruto shouted out with childish glee, jumping up and down causing the guards to stare strangely at him.

"Naruto," Sakura shouted threateningly. "Stop acting like a child!"

"_Gomenesai_," Naruto cried, crouching in fear, his hands protecting his face.

"Children," Kakashi intervened before there was any damage. "Stop your squabbling. We have to see the Hokage…or else there will be problems." Kakashi said covertly.

At the mention of the Hokage and the _problems_ that they could receive from her, Sakura and Naruto's face went pale as a ghost, their eyes wide as saucers. They were both imagining what Lady Tsunade would do to them if they caused any problem. Sakura could already feel the cold slimy slugs crawling all over her. Naruto could feel an immense amount of inhuman strength slamming him deep into the ground. Drops of sweat could be seen on both of their foreheads as hardly controllable chills racked their bodies.

"_SLUGS,_" Sakura murmured terribly into space, furiously rubbing her arms and face.

"_INHUMAN STRENGTH_," Naruto murmured dreadfully over and over again like a mantra, furiously hugging himself.

"Umm…," Sasuke said, looking confusedly at his two teammates' expressions of terror. Gulping nervously and shifting slightly from foot to foot, Sasuke continued, "I think that we should go. Now."

Broken from their trancelike state of mind, Naruto and Sakura each grabbed Mika's arm and ran through the village gate with barely a greeting to the guards. Taken completely by surprised, Mika could do nothing but allow them to carry her to the Hokage's Headquarters. As she looked behind, she saw Kakashi taking up the rear; she could have sworn she saw him smile under that mask.

**Hokage's Headquarters**

"Shizune," Tsunade's voice boomed loudly from the room. "Get me some sake. NOW!"

"But, my lady," Shizune said gesturing towards the huge pile of empty sake bottles. "You have already drunk the coffers empty."

"I don't care," Tsunade raged, slamming her hands onto her desk. "He was supposed to be back yesterday. Why hasn't Team Kakashi returned yet? What happened to them? I'm worried."

"My lady, I know that you're worried about Naruto, but DON'T USE HIM AS AN EXCUSE TO ESCAPE YOUR PAPERWORK. Because you have been slacking off this week, the pile of paperwork has been gradually climbing higher and higher. My lady, it is time for you to stop moaning and start working. NOW!"

"Shizune, can you at least show me some pity." Lady Tsunade moaned as she began rub her head. Suddenly she jerked her head up and focused on the small pile of moving dust outside the windows in her office. Quickly smiling in glee, Tsunade turned away from the window and cheerfully said to Shizune. "They're back." And just as she finished saying this, there was a huge explosion and shattered glass flew throughout the Hokage's office.

"U-Z-U-M-A-K-I-N-A-R-U-T-O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A loud menacing shriek rent through the air just before the sound of a body getting pummeled into the floor of the office was heard.

"O-obaa—chan," Naruto cried out brokenly when he finally caught his breath. "Why me?" Slowly, he raised his bruised body off the ground.

"This is just a small punishment." Not worried at all about Naruto, because she knew he would be okay with the fox in him, Tsunade turned away from Naruto and looked at the new face standing next to her student. "And you must be the Princess of the River Country, Princess Mika."

Still speechless and shocked at what she had seen, she could only nod in confirmation.

"I am the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Lady Tsunade, and she," Tsunade pointed to the woman holding a pig with a string of pearls around its neck and a green robe, "is Shizune, my assistant."

Finally gathering her wits about her, Mika said in a slightly strained voice, nodding her head, "It is good to see you."

Nodding back, Tsunade turned her attention to the rest of the group and said, "Good job Team Kakashi. Tonight I will allow you guys to go home and rest. Tomorrow you will report to me about your mission and about why you brought the Princess here instead of the Fire Temple. You are dismissed."

When she finished saying this, the team dispersed leaving Mika alone with Tsunade and Shizune. "Princess Mika, go with Shizune and she will show you to your room."

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade," Mika whispered softly, turning away and quietly exiting the room.

Before Shizune left the room, she turned around and with a hard cold glare threatened menacingly to Tsunade, "I'll be back." After saying this, Shizune turned around and left the room.

"DAMN! I hate this."

* * *

**The Next Day**

"I see," Tsunade said, her hands holding her aching head up. "So the ones who are looking for you are the members of Akatsuki, and they are searching for you because you are the jinchuuriki of the Shichibi no Kaku. Man, what a headache." Furiously rubbing her head she went on, "Here, this is what we'll do, we will let Princess Mika stay here but her identity must not be known. She will live with the Haruno family and act as a relative of theirs. The rest of you will protect and watch out for her. Until we figure this out, we can not allow Princess Mika to go to the Fire Temple, it is too dangerous. Do all of you understand me?"

As everyone nodded their head simultaneously, Tsunade lifted her aching head and dismissed them. "Naruto, stay. I need to talk with you."

Not surprised at all by this, Naruto gave a huge irate sigh, screwed up his face and in his most annoying voice said, "_Demo Obaa-chan_, I'm hungry. I want to go and eat some…"

Before Naruto could finish what he was going to say Tsunade loudly and clearly shouted, "Everyone leave now. Naruto, STAY!" At this, everyone scurried out of the room, leaving Naruto.

As soon as everyone was gone, Tsunade said irritable to Naruto, "You know Naruto, your acting skills is pretty annoying."

"_Gomen_, old Granny," Naruto said rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "But I had to act like that."

"No, you didn't '_have to'_ you wanted to. Naruto, it would be best if you told the truth to all of your friends." Tsunade began softly a slight frown on her smooth forehead.

"No, old Granny. I already told you this last time. It is best for everyone to have on association with me." Naruto said once again in a hollow voice.

"But they are your friends; they are your childhood friends. You guys graduated the ninja academy together. You were joined together as Team 7. I know that you have a strong bond with them, why can't you understand that they are your friends and that you can trust them to always stand beside you." Tsunade said fervently hands furiously moving around, releasing some pent up energy.

"That's the problem, old Granny. I don't want them to stand beside me; I don't want them to die like my mother did because they are too precious to me. I don't want anymore of my precious people to die. I don't want anybody to stand by me." Naruto said vacantly, eyes a dull shade of blue.

"Then how are you going to be a Hokage, stronger than all of the previous Hokages, Naruto?" Tsunade asked heatedly, hands angrily thrown out.

"I will become stronger, old Granny," Naruto said. "I will protect all of Konoha with my life because I have precious people here. No matter what happens, I will protect my precious people. I will not need them to stand by me and protect me. I will be the one protecting them…even if I happen to die." Quickly changing the topic Naruto went on. "I know who the members that attacked Princess Mika's entourage are."

Rubbing her head in defeat, Tsunade asked tiredly, "Who are they?"

Glad that Tsunade had finally dropped the topic, Naruto began briefing her about Hidan and Kakuzu. "Hidan is a missing-nin from an unknown village. He is the second-newest member of the Akatsuki organization. He is a Lord Jashin believer and kills people by doing his rituals. He carries a three bladed scythe. The only way to fight him is to avoid having your blood consumed by him. Once he has a drop of your blood, he will begin his ritual. When Hidan kills himself the opponent dies, but Hidan does not die because he is immortal. The only way to destroy his ritual is to remove him from the circle that he stands in. Once you remove him, it becomes ineffective. Hidan's partner is Kakuzu. He is a missing-nin from Takigakure. He has the ability to extend his life indefinitely through the extraction and incorporation of foreign human hearts. He can possess five human hearts at once and he is able to use all five chakra elements. His body contains many threads for attack and body manipulation. He is the longest-living member of the Akatsuki, since he has been around in the time of the First Hokage. Kakuzu has fought against the First Hokage at one point, but I am not sure who won that battle." After a slight pause Naruto nodded his handsome blond head. "I think that is all the information that I have the time to give to you."

Sitting behind her desk in stunned silence, Tsunade only gaped at him. When he finally finished speaking, Tsunade rapidly shut her mouth and said, "You are one freaky kid, you know? Who could have thought such a _baka_ could speak so intelligently? Tell me, how do you know all of this information about them when we've been trying to get information on them since forever."

"Well…" Naruto began hesitantly, brows furrowed. "Jiraiya and I got Orochimaru and Kabuto to talk."

"How did you do that?" Tsunade asked surprised, eyes slightly rounded. She couldn't believe that her old teammate Jiraiya could make Orochimaru, talk so easily.

"Well, that's a long story," Naruto said, once again rubbing the back of his blond head, a small grin of embarrassment on his face "So to cut it short, the tale went like this. When I left Konoha 10 years ago with the perverted toad-sage, he told me what he was doing. He told me that he had been researching about the Akatsuki and that he would like my help with the search. Since than, I had been helping him search for information about them until about two months ago. Now, to go back to Orochimaru and his assistant Kabuto, 7 years ago we first found Kabuto. We captured him, then tortured him, and then killed him. I went undercover as a fake Kabuto. We were able to trick Orochimaru and then capture him as well. Before we killed him, we tortured him until he revealed to us the plans that the members of Akatsuki organization had." Naruto finished.

"What is the Akatsuki's plan?" Tsunade asked, tensely.

"World domination," Naruto whispered harshly into the empty air, hands clutched into tight fists and jaws clenched tightly. His eyes were burning an unholy shade of blue with faded orange streaks swimming in it.

"I see," Tsunade whispered. Then she stood up from her seat and turned towards the large windows overlooking the village. "Do you have any plans?" Tsunade asked as she turned back to look at Naruto.

Suddenly a smile flashed across Naruto's face, changing his angry expression into a mischievous smile. "Thought you'd never ask."

Hearing this, Tsunade turned fully towards Naruto and chuckled. "You know, Naruto, I'm just holding on to this title until you can finally become the next Hokage. You better prove yourself to the whole village quickly before I die and someone else is chosen as the next Hokage."

Serious once more, Naruto began. "I don't want to involve many people in my plan to defeat and destroy the Akatsuki organization. So I've decided to use the Sand siblings, and the former teams 8, 10, and Team Gai. Old Granny, I have only one task for them to do as of right now. I want them to search for the rest of the jinchuuriki. They must be found and brought here. I have just recently received news from Itachi about their next plans."

Before Naruto could continue, Tsunade interrupted him. "_Itachi?_"

"Yes, Itachi," Naruto said rolling his eyes in exasperation. "You can look through the old files written by the Third Hokage later. Now can you please stop interrupting me?"

Taking her queue, Tsunade shut her mouth and silently nodded her head.

Naruto continued. "Pein, the ring leader, has discovered the whereabouts of the rest of the jinchuuriki and their bijuu. There are five jinchuuriki and their bijuu's left, including mine and Gaara's. Once I have the teams assembled we can continue our little discussion here." After a slight pause, Naruto continued. "I think that we should end our chat for today, it seems that the people who were supposed to have left have been sitting outside trying to hear our conversation. They might become suspicious. Don't worry old Granny, they heard nothing. As they left, I activated an undetectable jutsu that will not allow them to hear any of our conversation. Bye now," Naruto said in a cheerful tone.

Before Naruto could leave and deactivate the jutsu, Tsunade called out to him. "Naruto, before you leave. I have something very important to give to you." Holding out a small package, Tsunade handed it over to him. "This is something that your father entrusted to the Third who then entrusted to me. I was supposed to hand it to you when you turned 18, but you hadn't returned by then so I kept it. And here is the key to your father's home." After a silent pause, Tsunade looked straight into his blue crystalline eyes and asked him, "Do you know who your father was?"

Naruto looked at Tsunade with a sad smile on his face and said, "I do now," as his eyes wandered forlornly at somewhere above her head. She knew exactly where Naruto was looking at. He was looking at the picture of a young man. The young man hand long blond spikes sticking out of his head and eyes so blue, you would mistake it for the sky. He had no whisker marks on his cheeks. The man's eyes were twinkling with laughter, although his lips were unsmiling. The man wore the hat and clothing of the Fourth Hokage and under his picture was a gold plaque announcing who he was:

NAMIKAZE MINATO

FOURTH HOKAGE

"That picture was taken the day that your mother and father found out that they were going to have you." Tsunade said tears evident in her voice, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. "I'm sorry, Naruto. Do you want to talk about your father?"

Shaking his blond head, Naruto turned away from the photo before Tsunade could see the unshed tears in his eyes. Swallowing down the sudden lump in his throat Naruto whispered in a low husky voice. "I'll have to take a rain check, Granny Tsunade." And, with great effort, he left the room, a fake grin on his face and fake cheer glittering in his sad blue eyes.

_I'll be fine…right Kitsune? I can do this alone…right?_

_**I hope so, Kit. I hope so.**_ Kitsune replied, thinking sadly to himself. **Naruto, I'm so sorry.**


	7. Chapter 7

**ATTENTION READERS:**

**DUE TO THE FACT THAT I LOST ALL THE CHAPTERS OF MY STORY, I WILL DISCONTINUE THIS STORY UNTILL FURTHER NOTICE.**

**BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT I WILL NOT CONTINUE WRITNG IT. IN FACT, I PLAN TO GO BACK AND REWRITE EVERYTHING IF I HAVE TO BECAUSE THIS IS TOO GOOD A STORY FOR ME TO STOP.**

**SO HANG ON AND WAIT FOR IT TO BE COMPLETED. I WILL DEFINETLY GET IT DONE FOR YOU ALL, BELIEVE IT!**


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